The life of a Nomadic Steward: a lifestyle designed for climate shifting

I came up with the term “Nomadic Stewards” to describe a lifestyle that I think has the potential to not only survive, but to thrive through the coming dramatic shifts in our climates. Over the past 8 years I traveled between different farms, homesteads, and intentional communities; while following and studying many others that live full-time lifestyles as land stewards and nomads. As the years passed, I gradually put together everything I learned together to design a lifestyle revolving around stewardship and reciprocity of the lands I occupy. And as I continue this practice, I hope to one day spread this as a way of life to entire communities. I truly believe that this way of existing and working together will withstand the coming shifts in our physical, social, and economic climates.

Overview

The world around us is experiencing more and more sporadic & chaotic weather patterns scattered between rapidly heating seasons. If you are not able to accept this as a possibility, you are not ready for this yet. Go outside and talk to your parent or grandparents about the weather when they were young. Try just walking for more than 30 minutes in the height of summer. Look at the changing foliage around you. Go learn; we need you to.

That being said, along with these more sporadic and unpredictable changes, comes a very blunt reality: the systems our country has designed for consistency and predictability- across all ranges of resources and living- will not withstand these changes. As a matter of fact we already see them failing. The most prevelant areas affected being infrastructure (housing, cities, & communities) and agriculture. Each of which are among the most immersed in these outdated techniques centered around speed and replication. Each of these require entire written chapters to understand the full extend, but that’s for another blog.

This is where nomadic stewardship becomes so prevalent. Both infrastructure and agriculture are fused together through syntropic principles that revolve around active participation while prioritizing genuine interconnected relationships.

FROM HERE ON IS A DRAFT IN PROGRESS

For me, personally, my passion and purpose for stewardship has evolved over the years to not only regenerate soils and ecosystems, but humans and villages as well.

    For the soil and landscapes this means setting up a canvas wall tent on a raised platform at various sites; from which I passively introduce, expand, & maintain various native species and semi-passive food crops. The exact projects and species I work on depend on the land, the soil, and many other factors- including the people I’m working with. But throughout all of them one thing remains consistent:

    For people and community, I bring groups of people together within these spaces I spread what I like to call “seeds of knowledge and practice”. That is to say, I teach people routines and techniques for nurturing & healing their nervous systems, minds, bodies, souls, relationships, and environments; through the act of stewarding spaces.

Finding and Creating Villages

    I would arguably say that creating villages and communities outweigh the importance of even the actual regeneration projects themselves. And I truly believe that creating communities and villages will be the only way that we can create peaceful, purposeful, fulfilling, and most importantly enjoyable lives for ourselves. And to give some context as to why, let start with some history- what this land mass we now live on used to be.

    The entirety of this continent used to be covered in symbiotically stewarded old growth forests, mountain ranges, meadows, wetlands, and grasslands; all of which were continuously spread with ample & abundant wild foods, medicines, and materials. All of this these lands were stewarded along various nomadic routes by countless indigenous people’s, tribes, and villages. Believe it or not, semi-passive gardens were even implemented in open fields or gaps in forest canopies with heirloom crops (the three sisters garden system is a perfect example of this); many of which sadly have been lost to genocides or massacres brought by the colonization of this continent- although there are many available to grow and eat to this day; you can even find some in the store on this website :) A little-known aspect of these villages and tribes, which I find equally amazing and sad (for what has been lost) was a wide-scale network of democratic organization. And one that was so effective, for that matter, that there were minimal conflicts and wars save for personal revenge or grudges. And even the majority of those conflicts were conducted in ceremony and intention. Now it’s important to remember this is a very simplified and basic rundown of the history of this land.

 of resilient, empathic, aware & observant people

    You see theres a very common (and in my opinion poisonous) way of thinking that has spread through the world, but especially the U.S- and that is the enticing mentality of self-reliance and safety pursued by financial security. Now right off the bat you might laugh or even scoff at this remark; thinking it ridiculous because you NEED financial security to even survive, let alone do anything meaningful or relaxing… and there’s genuine truth to that; but the hidden layers behind this lifestyle that the majority of us live is vast and complex; so before I lose you let me explain. The majority of people around the world have been taught (myself included) that the priority of one’s life should be money; at the end of the day if you have enough money, you’ll have a safe space to live, medicine to keep you healthy, plenty of food and water to buy, eat & drink, and activities nearby you can participate in. And this is where it gets tricky; because those resources, medicine, materials, wild spaces, common spaces & infrastructure… all of them are supplied by entities (corporations, large businesses, various business chains) completely outside of our interaction, management, and observation. And the unfortunate trade-off for this guaranteed safety, as I’ve seen across nearly the whole country now, is more and more land being bought, clear-cut, destroyed, and developed or farmed by those very same entities providing those provisions. Now you may be wondering at this point “but Dylan, how does all this complaining about corporations tie into community?” Or “buy we need those commodities to survive; what else are we supposed to do?!”…. And the irony of that question is that the answer lies in the very thing being withheld from us; land and community.

    Over the years of traveling in my life I have found myself living on various farms, homesteads, intentional communities, and many solo forest/wilderness camps; in most of which I became involved with management or organizing. I’ve been a part of and witness to many non-profits and social movements for environmental & social change through the whole country. And through all of these experiences & places Ive come to find some universal truths when it comes to the function and